“Kill all these yao beasts!” Jian Xiaotian shouted, wielding his great sword as he charged forward.

The Seven Demise Vipers were ferocious creatures. However, after losing two of their companions, they immediately chose to retreat.

However, as they were retreating, another Seven Demise Viper at the Great Yao stage was killed by Chen Feng's team of three.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

After the Seven Demise Vipers had disappeared from sight, the three of them exchanged glances. Finally, they could not hold it in anymore and they began laughing.

Their plan had gone on without a hitch.

“All right. It is time we divide the spoils,” Chen Feng said with a smile as he brought out all the spiritual herbs he collected earlier.

Dire Meridian Gra.s.ses, Seven Extreme Gra.s.ses, Earthroot Gra.s.ses, Seven Poison Gra.s.ses, Blood Dissolution Flowers, Heart Eroding Mushrooms and various other spiritual herbs were laid out before the three of them.

“I have some yao cores here with me.” Jian Xiaotian brought out the yao cores he acquired by killing the Seven Demise Vipers earlier.

“He he! Brother Lin, take these yao cores,” Chen Feng said happily.

“Yes. Since Brother Lin needs these yao cores, we will not be fighting for them,” Jian Xiaotian too, said jovially.

“Very well. Since I have taken these yao cores, I will not take these spiritual herbs, no matter what,” Lin Shaokun said firmly.

In the end, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian split the spiritual herbs between them.

“Guys, my task is complete. It is time I return to my sect. If there is anything, you can come to Extreme Celestial Sect to find me. I will surely roll out the red carpet for you,” Chen Feng said genially.

“Sure. Brother Chen, you go back first and get ready. When the time comes, I might go to Extreme Celestial Sect to cheer you on,” Jian Xiaotian said smilingly.

“This trip has netted me quite a bit. I got myself a good number of yao cores. It is time I return as well. I'll have to say goodbye now, may we meet again.” After saying that, Lin Shaokun cupped his fists towards Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian before leaving.

“Brother Lin came out to hunt yao beasts and collect yao cores. He must have some secret issues,” Chen Feng said.

“Everyone has their own secrets. Since he is unwilling to talk about it, there is no need for us to ask. I am thinking of training myself here for a while longer,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“Very well. However, Brother Jian, you must be careful. If you end up meeting those from Nine Firmaments Palace…” Chen Feng said.

“Don't worry! If I encounter anyone from Nine Firmaments Palace, I will kill them all.” Jian Xiaotian's eyes glinted.

Liu Mu and the other disciple who managed to escape were a hidden danger, a serious one. Once the danger erupted, it would result in an unstoppable storm within the Northern Plains.

By then, the two had lost interest in searching for Liu Mu. They could only accept whatever might come next. Rather than searching around aimlessly within the dangerous Seven Kills Direlands, it would be better for Chen Feng to quickly return and prepare himself.

Chen Feng sped up as he moved out from the Seven Kills Direlands. He encountered zero incidents on his way out and it did not take him long to walk out from the Seven Kills Direlands.

After that, Chen Feng waited in the peripheral area for five days. However, he did not see Liu Mu and the other disciple. Finally, he sighed and flew into the sky as he went back to his sect.

After just two hours, however, Liu Mu and the other disciple stumbled out from the gra.s.ses, their bodies drenched in blood.

“The two of us are the only ones who managed to escape,” Liu Mu said, gritting his teeth.

“Those fellows dare kill the members of our Nine Firmaments Palace! What should we do?” said He Fei, the other disciple.

“What should we do? What else can we do? Naturally, we'll return to our sect first. They've killed six core disciples. Our sect will never ignore this. Extreme Celestial Sect, humph! Does he think he can remain unscathed just because he has the backing of Extreme Celestial Sect?” Liu Mu harrumphed.

“Yes. That fellow is from Extreme Celestial Sect. We need not fear losing track of him. However, the other fellow seems to be from Sword Hall. Sword Hall is not to be trifled with,” He Fei said.

“So what if it's Sword Hall? Can they go against our Nine Firmaments Palace? Besides, he is not necessarily from Sword Hall. Enough! Don't talk about this anymore. This place is not safe. What we need to do now is to hurry back to our sect!” Liu Mu said.

“Yes. It would be bad if the two of them come after us.” He Fei's face turned ugly to behold.

This time, eight of them had come out on this trip. By relying on the name Nine Firmaments Palace, they believed that there was nothing worthy of their attention. However, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian had killed off six of their brothers and sisters. Thus, He Fei and Liu Mu were terrified. They were afraid that Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian might suddenly appear before them. Thus, they stopped talking and hurried back to their sect.

As Liu Mu and He Fei were rushing back to their sect, a group of loose cultivators emerged from the gra.s.ses and they caught sight of their wretched appearances.

“Eh? Aren't those fellows earlier from Nine Firmaments Palace? Why do they look so wretched?”

“Yes. I recognize one of them, Liu Mu. He has only just overcome Lightning Tribulation not long ago.”

“Is someone chasing them? Look just how miserable they look.”

“How is that possible? In the Northern Plains, who dares offend Nine Firmaments Palace? I'm thinking they must have encountered a powerful yao beast.”

“Heh! Seeing those arrogant fellows fall into such a wretched state does put a smile on my face!”

…

After returning to the sect, Chen Feng did not return to his mountain residence. Instead, he went to Sage Enigma Flame's mountain. As Chen Feng already possessed the formula to enter the grotto-mansion, he could simply enter the place.

Sage Enigma Flame was seated quietly on the ground. His posture was exactly the same as when Chen Feng had left. In fact, Chen Feng suspected that Sage Enigma Flame had not moved at all during this period.

Both of Sage Enigma Flame's hands were still placed on the Demon Sealing Sword. It was unknown if he had comprehended any mysteries of the Human Immortal stage.

Sou!

Without saying anything to Chen Feng, the Longevity Tower flew into the hole connected to the earthen fire beneath the mountain.

After some time, Sage Enigma Flame opened his eyes and saw Chen Feng. “Dear apprentice, you are back.”

Next, the Demon Sealing Sword in Sage Enigma Flame's hand returned to Chen Feng's hand. Light flowed across the surface of the sword. It seemed as though some of its power had been activated.

“Greetings, master. Did you acquire anything?” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“A little. However, I will still need to put in personal hard work if I want to break through to the Human Immortal stage. By the way, I have activated some of this Demon Sealing Sword's power. It will be easier for you to refine it in the future,” Sage Enigma Flame said with a grin.

“Master, if you need this sword, then just take it. I believe master will be better able to unleash this sword's power,” Chen Feng said.

“No need. I have my own weapon,” Sage Enigma Flame said with a chuckle.

“You are back earlier. Have you completed your tasks already?”

“I did complete my tasks. However, I ended up provoking some troubles during this trip,” Chen Feng said.

“Troubles? What kind of troubles? Tell me about it. Did you offend some fellows? Don't worry! With your master's support, who dares trouble you?” Sage Enigma Flame said arrogantly.

“In the Seven Kills Direlands, I killed some people. They are from Nine Firmaments Palace.” Chen Feng went straight to the point.

“Oh.” Sage Enigma Flame nodded his head.

“There were eight core disciples in total. I killed six, but two managed to escape,” Chen Feng said.

Sage Enigma Flame finally revealed a frown. However, his voice remained calm. “Kid, why didn't you finish up the matter properly? How could you let two escape?”

“He he. Back then, we were in the Seven Kills Direlands. That place is very dangerous. However, I was somewhat careless,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

“Six core disciples. Nine Firmaments Palace will never let this slide. However, there is no need to worry too much about it. You'll just need to exercise caution when going out in the future,” Sage Enigma Flame said coolly.

“What if Nine Firmaments Palace comes knocking?” asked Chen Feng, who felt somewhat concerned.

“Our Extreme Celestial Sect is one of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects of the Northern Plains, after all. Not even Nine Firmaments Palace can throw their weight around here. If someone dares trouble my disciple, hey, hey! This master of yours won't simply stand by and do nothing.” Sage Enigma Flame snickered.

“Enough about this. You have finished your tasks, right? Hurry up and get promoted to core disciple. The sect's Grand Compet.i.tion should be close to starting,” Sage Enigma Flame finally said.

“Understood, disciple will go.” Chen Feng bowed and left.

“This kid sure knows how to create troubles.” Sage Enigma Flame shook his head. Next, he closed his eyes. After that, he regulated his rate of breathing and the power of fire surging out from beneath the ground grew in intensity.

…

Core Hall…

The disciple promotion department was still manned by the same three elders.

When the three of them saw Chen Feng coming, all three revealed looks of shock.

“He came back alive. He must have failed to complete the tasks!”

The looks of panic in their eyes did not escape Chen Feng's gaze and he sneered inwardly. As expected, these fellows were up to something.

“I am here to hand in my tasks,” Chen Feng said, placing a Dire Meridian Gra.s.s and a yao core before the three of them.

“These are indeed Dire Meridian Gra.s.s and the yao core of a Great Yao. What about the Blackwind Mountain task?” Once again, the middle-aged cultivator spoke.

“I have killed all the bandits in Blackwind Mountain,” Chen Feng said coolly.

“What? All of them?” All three revealed looks of shock.

“What evidence do you have?” the middle-aged cultivator continued asking.

“Humph! My words are evidence. If you do not believe it, you can go check it out yourselves!” Chen Feng replied with a sneer.

“No. Without any evidence, we cannot allow you to be promoted to core disciple. At the very least, you must bring back the head of the Blackwind Mountain bandits' leader,” the middle-aged cultivator said coldly.

“Humph!”

Hearing that, killing intent immediately flashed across Chen Feng's eyes. Abruptly, he stretched his hand out and slapped the table resting in front of the three elders, causing it to shatter into pieces.

“Chen Feng! What are you trying to do here? This is the Core Hall! This is not the place where an elite disciple like you can spout nonsense!” the middle-aged cultivator shouted loudly.

“Is that so? You are saying that I am spouting nonsense?” Chen Feng sneered and he walked towards the three of them. A wild aura surged out from his body, forcing the three elders to take several steps back.

Their dispute had quickly attracted the attention of the other cultivators within the Core Hall. Everyone there felt curious. They did not understand how the three elders in charge of promotion could get into a conflict with an elite disciple.

“Chen Feng, I'll say it again! This is the Core Hall! If you dare act recklessly, not even Sage Enigma Flame can protect you. There are three tasks needed for you to get promoted to core disciple. Right now, you have only completed two tasks. According to the rules, you cannot be promoted to core disciple!” the middle-aged man forced himself to respond calmly. Although Chen Feng was just an elite disciple, the one backing him was Sage Enigma Flame, a terrifying monster.

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